The present invention relates to neck exercising devices and more particularly to neck exercising devices worn on the head and to a method for configuring the apparatus for use.
There are prior neck exercising devices in the prior art which comprise some form of apparatus worn on the head and comprising weight supported to the head. While movement of the head with respect to the body is a complex combination of movements, the mathematical model of viewing the head as being simply pivotally supported to the body is useful. In order to keep the head positioned in a predetermined against a moment of force exerted by the weight about the pivot, neck muscles are utilized. Similarly, in order to move the head against the weight, neck muscles are utilized.
There are many prior art schemes for supporting weight to the head for this purpose. A basic apparatus comprising weights supported to the head for posture improvement is illustrated in U.S. Pat. 500,686 issued July 4, 1893 to J. F. Corker. U.S. Pat. 3,820,780 issued June 28, 1974 to E. L. Tarbox disclose a weighted headband comprising fabric filled with shot. The weight is concentrated about the ears of the user. The patent teaches that a total weight for the headband may be selected to be about five percent of user weight. In this apparatus, weight remains fixed for one user, and the positioning of the weight remains fixed with respect to the user.
While such an apparatus may provide a training effect for a user, it is best for a user if the amount of weight can be minimized. When a user is standing with weight supported to the head, compressive force is applied to the spine. This is not beneficial to a user. Also, a common cause of injury to inexperienced users is overexertion. Maximizing the effectiveness of weight used allows for minimizing the amount of weight necessary to achieve a particular training effect. This in turn reduces the chances of overexertion. Also, since the position on the head of the weight is fixed, even if a weight were optimally positioned for one exercise, such as moving the head forward and back, it would not be optimally positioned for an exercise requiring movement in a different plane, such as the exercise of moving the head back and forth. In the present description, the traditional grammatical convention relating to masculine pronouns comprising collective pronouns is followed. In other words references to "he" or "his" with respect to a user do indeed refer to "he or she" or "his or hers."